An opportunity to feel satisfied with your festive lot was provided by Tudor Monastery Farm Christmas, a seasonal special of BBC2's living history series, which gave us the lowdown on how a Tudor farmstead would have celebrated. On the one hand, they did get a whole 12 days off work – the luxury! – for a festive period which began on 25 December and extended well into January. On the other hand, the partying was preceded by Advent's four weeks of fasting and back-breaking toil.

As literary monsterings go, accusing Alan Bennett of being good at fixing washing machines is at the milder end of the scale. But for the celebrated playwright, the allegation of mechanical competence has proved too hard to stomach.